Ice cube tray



April 22, 1952 R L, CQLLIER 2,594,127

ICE CUBE TRAY Filed May 4, 1951 f 2 SHEETS- SHEET 1 INVENTOR. RAYMOND L.COLL/ER BY @l f,

A T TOE/VE YS R. L. COLLIER April 22, 1952 ICE CUBE TRAY 2 SHEETS-SHEET2 Filed May 4, 1951 INVENTOR. RAYMOND L. CUL/2 TTOENEVS Patented Apr.22, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,594,127 ICE CUBE friuli*V RaymondL. Collier, Lakewood, Ohio Application May 4, 1951, serial No. 224,519

This invention relates broadly to ice cube trays and more specificallyto certain structural improvements in the form thereof which aredesigned to facilitate the removal of the ice cubes with ease anddispatch.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a tray having ice cubecavities in the upper face thereof and a ange or skirt depending fromits lower face to form a chamber which may be filled with hot water toexpedite the removal of the cubes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cover plate for the trayhaving depressions in the lower face thereof for the reception of thecubes as they fall from the freezing cups in the plate.

Another object of the invention is to provide an interlock between thetray and cover plate to restrain lateral movement of the parts andmaintain the ice cube depressions in registration with the ice cubecups.

Another object of the invention is to provide ledges in the sides of theupper face of the cover plate or lid to facilitate alignment of asimilar tray when superposed thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide partitions dividing thechamber defined by the depending anges on the tray so the removal of theice cubes may be limited to units encompassed by subchambers.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of overowchannels in the top of the tray to delimit the size of the frozen blockf ice and also provide ducts in the bottom chambers to control thevolume of hot water exposed to the periphery of the ice cup or molds.

Another object of the invention is to provide an ice molding cup whichis formed with fluted, cruciform, or other multi-facet structures tofacilitate the ready disintegration of the ice block when used as acoolant for a beverage.

Further objects of the `invention contemplate a combined lpray and panwhich is economic of manufacture, eflicient of operation, durable ofstructure, and susceptible of substitution for trays of other types inlike environments.

Other objects and advantages, more or less ancillary to the foregoing,and the manner in which all the various objects are realized will appearin the following description, which, considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings, sets forth the preferred embodiment of theinvention.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the-improved ice cube tray;

2 Claims. (Cl. 62--108.5)

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof including a lid or cover platenot shown in Fig. l, the'section being taken on a plane indicated by theline 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the lower face of the lid illustrated in Fig.2;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section similar to that shown in Fig. 2, butwith the tray inverted and the chamber surrounding the ice block cups ormolds filled with a heating medium such as warm water; i

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section of the combined tray and pan, thesection being taken on a plane indicated by the line 5-5 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a View in perspective of the improved ice cube tray and coversuperposed upon a similar assembly; and

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary view, partially in section, of the improvedtray and pan combination illustrating a modied form of the freezing moldor cup.

Referring first to Figs. l and 2, the t-ray comprises a top plate I0formed with a plurality of depending ice molding cups I I and adownwardly directed skirt or flange I2 preferably extending beyond thebottom walls I 3 of the cups. The ends I4 of the top plate protrudebeyond the vertical side walls of flanges I2 and are provided withrectilinear openings I5 for the reception of depending lips or dowelrails I6 formed in a cover plate Il. The cover plate is formed withdepressions I8 constituting pockets for the retention of the ice cubesor blocks I9 as they fall from .the freezing cups when the tray isinverted as shown in Fig. 5. The face of the plate I0 is formed withchannels or spillways 20 leading from the cups I I and provided tomaintain a uniform water level therein and thus regulate the size of theice blocks. The chamber defined by the flange I2 is subdivided by crosspartitions 2| secured in sealed relation with the lower face of theplate I0 and the opposed flange or side Wall I2 of the bottom chamber.The flanges I2 are formed with openings 22 disposed slightly below theouter face of the bottom wall of each of the cups II to facilitatedrainage of excess heated water when introduced into the chamber orchambers in the lower face of the tray for the removal of the ice cubes.

The upper face of the lid is constructed with vertically disposed ledges23 to restrain lateral movement of a second tray assembly whensuperposed thereon as illustrated in Fig. 6. The lower edges 24 of theend walls of the chambers 25 are relieved to provide a clearance for theprotruding faces 26 of the walls that define the de- 3 pressions I8 sothat two or more tray assemblies may be readily moved longitudinallywhen arranged in stacked relation.

The cups 21 as illustrated in Fig. 7 are formed with fluted side walls28 to increase the area of the ice block and thus expedite the meltingrate thereof. Obviously other forms of molds configured to increase theperipheral area of the ice block may be employed to obtain equivalent orsuperior' results.

In operation, the ice block molds or cups ll are rst filled with waterto the height determined by the spillways 20, then the cover plate isassembled in position and the tray placed in the freezing compartment ofa refrigerator.`

When the ice blocks are frozen the tray may be withdrawn from therefrigerator and the ice blocks removed therefrom by inverting the trayand filling the chamber`V or chambers 25- with warm water to break thebond between the ice and the molding cups-As the ice cubes or blocks arereleased they will fall upon the cover plate Il where the depressions I8willv hold them in erect, separated position which will obviouslyaccommodate the use thereof without undue handling. i

If desired, the tray and lid assembly may be merely inverted andpermitted to stand until the icevbondis broken under the influence ofthe ambient air, such practice being desirable when the immediate use ofthe ice may be deferred.v

Although the foregoing description isA necessarily of a detailedcharacter, in order that the invention may be completely set forth, itis to be understood that the specic terminology is not intended to berestrictive or conning, and that various rearrangements of parts andmodications of detail may be resorted to without departing from thescope or spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

I claim: l

1. An ice cube tray comprising a vessel including top and downwardlydirected side walls, spaced cups depending from said top fwall deiiningice block molds, the depth of said cups being no greater than the heightof said side walls, and partitions intermediate certain of said cupsattached to the lower face of said top wall`and the inner faces ofopposed side walls.

2. A vessel comprising a top wall, spaced cups depending therefrom,depending side walls around said top, said side walls being of a heightgreater than the depth of said cups, a lid on said top wall havingdepressions therein spaced for registration with said cups, ledges onsaid lid for the lateral support thereof upon the vessel, ledges on thetop of said lid for the lateral support of a similar vessel, said topwalls having channels thereon to delimit the capacity thereof, andpartitions between certain of said cups connected to the lower face ofthe top Wall and to opposed side walls, said side Walls having ventstherein to delimit the capacity of the chambers dened by the top, sideIwalls, and partitions when the vessel is inverted.

RAYMOND L. COLLIER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

